Record controlled interpreting machine



Jan. 59 w43. .1. w. BRYCE 2,307,109

RECORD CONTROLLED INTERPRETING MACHINE BY 'z i //ElTOR A TT ORNE Y Jan. 5, `i943. J. w. BRYCE RECORD CONTROLLED INTERPRETING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 7, 1941 d IVENToR BY ATTORNEY Jam 5, 1943.. J. w. BRYCE RECORD CONTROLLED INTERPRETING MACHINE Filed June 7, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIGA.

INV TOR ,M

ATTORNEY dan. 5, H943 J, W, TBRYCE 2,307,109

RECORD CONTROLLED INTERPRETING MACHINE Filed June 7, 1941 5 Sheets--Sheerl 5 xNvEN-rQR ATlroRNEY Patented Jan. 5, l 1943 RECORD CONTRLLED INTERPBETING MACHINE James W. Bryce, Glen Ridge, N. J., assigner to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 7, 1941, Serial No. 397,002

10l Claims.

This invention relates to record controlled interpreting machines, and more particularly to such machines having provisions therein for checking the sensing and recording operations, and detecting failures of the latter operations to correspond to the sensed record designations.

More specically, the present invention contemplates sensing the coded data designations on the individual records and effecting operations recording means, the retained representations from the storing devices by tending to clear or wipe out these representations from the latter during each operation of the recording means. It will become evident to those skilled in the art, as description herein progresses, that other known comparison and checking methods are contemplated to be encompassed within the scope of this invention.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention resides inthe provision of an improved machinel wherein manifestations of data are effected in accordance with the data designations sensed on individual records, and wherein the data. manifesting operations are checked by determining, iirst, the identity of the sensed data designations, then determining the identity of Y the manifested data, and then comparing the representations of the sensed and manifested 'datato detect and indicate the failure of the manifesting operations to correspond to the sensed data designations.

. Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of means for storing representations of the data, and, under control of the sensing means, lcause the representations of the sensed datato be stored therein, and then, subsequently, under control of the manifesting means, such as recording or printing means, cause the representations of the recorded data to be entered in the storing means to eliminate or clear out the originally entered representations during the operations of the said recording means, thereby ellecting the detection of the failure of thev recording operations to correspond to the sensed designations, by virtue of the failure of eliminating or clearing out entirely the originally entered data representations.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been,

contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a central section of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken at one side of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation disclosing in normal position the means controlled by the type bars for effecting operations of the checking contacts.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the contact closing devices to show more clearly their arrangement and construction.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of one type of data representation storing and retaining means.

Fig. 6 is a timing chart for certain control elements of the machine.

Fig. 7 is a circuit diagram of the connections of the electrical control elements of the machine.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary View of a suitable record card.

The mechanism disclosed herein for recording the interpreting data on the related sensed record cards is similar to the structure described in the U. S. Patent 1,946,900, consequently, it is considered that the following brief description of the like elements, and their operations, is suiicient to comprehend the instant invention.

Record card feeding means Referring now to Figs. l and 2, the mechanism will be described for feeding individually record cards from a stack and transporting the cards successively past thesensing station, then to the recording station where the cards are held stationary, momentarily, during the recording operations, and thence to a card receiving hopper.

A main drive shaft I0 is provided, which may be driven in any suitable manner, for example, by a motor M (Fig. 7) and a driving belt II, which shaft is enabled to drive shaft I5 through the worm gearing I3 and I4. A box cam I6 is secured to shaft I5, which cam actuates the cooperating pivoted cam follower arm II and arm I9 through the adjustable connecting rod 20.

Arm I9 is secured to a shaft 2l having arms 22 (one of which is shown in Fig. l) in pin and slot engagement with card picker 23 mounted for reciprocatinn in the frame of the machine. By means of the actuated shaft 2| and the reciprocating picker mechanism, record cards are advanced, one at a time, from the supply stack 24.

Through gears 2l (Fig. 2), the shaft Il drives a parallel shaft 2l which has a threaded section I 21 meshing with worm gear 28 on roller shaft 2l to drive continuously the feed rollers Il. 'Ihe advanced cards are fed, by the said feed rollers, past the record sensing means, comprising the conventional sensing brushes 2l and contact roller l2. After passing the sensing brushes, each card passes to a. pair of intermittently driven rollers, comprising an upper spring pressed roller 22 and a lower roller Il. These rollers 2l and 24 advance the cards to a printing station, and then momentarily are paused in their rotation to permit printing on each card r accordance with the preceding analysis.

'I'his interruption in the advancement of the cards is accomplished as follows: Roller 24 is secured to a shaft 35 having attached at one end a gear 3i meshing with an idler gear a which in turn meshes `with a gear libfthe latter being secured io shaft 26e. Gear 2Gb meshes with a gear 31 on shaft 28, on which shaft is also secured a gear 39 driven by a mutilated gear Il on the continuously rotated shaft I5. Thus, during the rotation of shaft I5, gear will pick up gear 39 to advance each card to printing position, whereupon, at this particular moment in the cvcle of operation, the toothless portion of gear 40 moves into locking engagement with gear l! as shown in Fig. 2. Upon completion of the printing operations, gear Il is again engaged for rotation, and each card is then fed forward to a conveyor comprising rollers ll and tracks 42, which convey the cards to a suitable ldischarge hopper I3. The shafts upon which rollers 4I are secured are continually driven by the gear connections Il to the shaft 2l.

It should be mentioned that a conventional type of card lever is provided between rollers 3l and the sensing station for controlling contacts lila. These contacts are closed as long as cards are fed from the supply stack, by virtue of the engagement of the cards with the said card lever.

Printing means For effecting the printing on the record cards, as they successively pass through the machine, a

- plurality of type bars 4l (Fig. l) are provided.

These bars are all mounted for reciprocation in the frame of the machine, and each have a connection through a spring-pressed pawl lt to a crosshead l1. Thus, in Fig. 1, upon movement of crosshead I1 to the left, the pawls through frictionai engagement with bars 4l, will move the bars concurrently in the samedirection.

The bars may be arrested at any point in their travel, and subsequently the pawls u disengage from. and permit further movement of, the crosshead 41. Upon the reverse movement of crosshead l1. the projecting ends of the bars Il are engaged thereby to positively move the bars to restored position. I'br reciprocating crosshead 41 the following mechanism is provided.

In Pig. 2, the crosshead I1 is connected at its ends to blocks Il, slidable upon rods II, and having pivoted link connections Il to a follower arm pivoted-at l2. Arm Il has a roller I2 cooperating with the cam groove of a box cam I4 mounted on 1a shaft I! connected through worm gear Il and worm i1 to the constantly running shaft Il. The arrangement and timing of the parts is such'that the typebars u are advanced xmder the influence of Plwls 4t synchronously with the movement of a card past the sensing brushes 2l.

If a perforation at, say, the 5 position on the card were under the sensing brushes, the corresponding type representing 5 would be at the printing line. The establishment of an electric circuit through the index point perforations by the brushes causes a magnet Il to be energized. 'Ihere are a number of these magnets 5l correspending to the different columns in the card, each magnet being related to a corresponding type bar 45. The energization of any magnet causes the release of a related pawl device l! through a wire Il and latch l2, and allows it to engage one of the ratchet teeth Il on the bar IE. After pawl 58 engages the teeth Il, further movement of the type bar It to the left in Fig. 1 is prevented. The type bars 45 are positioned during the passage of a card past the brushes.

Subsequently, these type bars are held stationary during the period that a card passes from the analyzing station to printing position, and during the printing operation. After the printing operation, pawls 59 and latches I2 are positively restored in the following manner.

Secured to shaft is a cam Il (Fig. l) which cooperates with and actuates an arm $4 pressed upwardly by a spring acting through an arm 6l on shaft ll. The shaft l1 has an arm il to which is secured a` restoring plate Il, and through connection to a pivoted ar'm l1I also actuates a restoring plate 1I. In this manner, cam i2 moves plate 69 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1, to restore pawls I9, and plate 'li upwardly to restore latches 62 and their connected wires Il.

From each type bar 4l there is an individual hammer 12 which strikes the particular type 13 on the type bar at the printing line. 'I'he hammers are pivotally mounted on a rod 14 carried by a bar 15 and depend for their actuation up-l on movement of said bar. 'Ihe bar 1l is pivoted on the frame of the machine, by means of pintles co-axial with rod 1l, and has springs 'Il biasing the bar in a clockwise direction in F18. 1. To the middle of bar 'il there is pivoted a cam follower arm 11 bifurcated to straddle shaft l and having a roller 11a in cooperation with a camll. Flxedtoonefaceofthecamliisa Y cam member 1l which cooperates with a projection Il of the cam follower arm ll.

As the cam 1l revolves, by virtue of the shaft Il beingdriven in the manner previously described, it cooperates with the arm 1l through its follower roller 11a, gradually retracting the hammer 12 in a counterclockwise direction against the tension of springs 1l. As the roller 11a leaves the high point of the cam 1l, member l! engages the projection I0, and upon continued rotation of the cam, the projection Il drops from the member 11|, and the `springs 1I, thus released, turn the common bar 1l, in a clockwise direction, to swing the hammers 72 against type 13, thus effecting printing.

In Fig. 1, the reference character Il designates a printing platen iournaled in the frame of the machine and adapted to be turned by frlctional engagement with the card to prevent excessive wear at any one place. The inking ribbon devices are of conventional form and require no detailed dcription, the ribbon l2 being guided along the platen 8i and beneath the record card. In Fig. 8. a portion of a perforated record card is shown with the interpretirig data printed at the top o! the card, and disposed at the headof each corresponding perforated column.

It should also be mentioned that a plurality of cam elements a (Fig. 2) are provided, and secured to shaft 65, for controlling the operations of the related contacts, such as the contacts CCI to CCl, CBI, and CB2 (see Figs. 6 and 7). The timing arrangement of the operations of these contacts is shown in Fig. 6.

Checking means 4The checking means, referred to hereinabove, for checking the sensing and recording operations, and detecting failures of the latter operations to correspond to the sensed record designations will now be described. This means comprises generally a checking contact unit, and a data storing and retaining unit.

Checking contact unit-This unit will be described ilrst and, as disclosed herein, is arranged to be underV the control of the described printing means. Provision is made, whereby, the operations of the individual contacts of the unit are controlled by the positioned type bars.

. With reference now to Figs. l, 3 and d, each type bar 45 is provided with a camrning lever 85, pivoted at t6 to the crosshead All, and having a sloping camming portion 8l cooperating with the tail 36 of the pawl 46. When the type bar d5 is positioned to the left, as viewed in Fig. 3, and assuming for the moment, that its travel is unimpeded by pawl 59, the relationship of the positions of these described elements, namely pawl 66, camming lever 85, and type bar 46, is unaltered; however, assume now, that pawl 62 is unlatcl'led, due to the energization of magnet 58, after a short travel of lthe type bar to permit the pawl 56 to engage a notch 60 to stop the type bar 45, the said relationship referred to is altered upon further advancement or positioning of the crosshead lll, after the typebar is stopped, due to the action of the camming edge 89 and pawl t6. The latter is rocked in a clockwise direction so that the tail 88 in engagement with the portion 0l of lever 85 will rock the lever in a clockwise direction;

Disposed beneath each camming lever 65 are individual T-shaped levers which are carried by a pair of supporting arms 9| loosely mounted on rods 92, the latter being supported by the fixed upright members 93. Now, upon rocking of lever 85 as described, this lever is effective to displace, or position in a downwardly direction, the related T-shaped lever 50. It is to be noted, in Fig. a, that every other upper and lower arm 9| has integral therewith an extension arm Se, each arm Sil being disposed in close proximity to a related set of contacts 95. These elements are arranged so that the contacts are closed at all times the related T-shaped lever'90 is not acted upon by the camming lever 85, that is, the said contacts are closed at the times the related lever 90 is not displaced, or positioned in a downward- 1y direction. Whenever the said |shaped levers 90 are displaced the said extension arms 94 are urged in a counter-clockwise direction to open the related contacts 05.

The said operated contacts 95 are restored to their closed positions as shown in Fig. 3, during that period ci the machine cycle when the crosshead 4l is returned to restore the differentially displaced typebars to the home position. The closures of the said sets of contacts 95 will occur at diflerential times in the machine cycle, since the closures of tne said contacts occur, whenever the stopped typebars are picked up by the crosshead, during the return travel of the latterr When the said typebars are picked'Vv up by the crosshead, springs 86 and 91 urge the pawls 46, camming levers 85, and T-shaped levers 90, respectively, to the home positions as shown in Fig. 3.

The purpose of contacts 95 will be explained in detail later, but it can be stated at this time, that these contacts exercise controlling functions over the data storing means, during that period in the machine cycle, when the typebars are restored to the home position. f

Data storming unit-The purpose of this unit, in the instant case, is to store or set up representations of the data sensed on the record cards, during the first half period of the machine cycle, and retain this data so that subsequently, in the same cycle, when the typebars are restored to their home positions, this retained data is cleared or wiped out, under control of the typebars, whenever the typebar operations correspond to the sensed data designations.

In order to simplify this description, the data stonng unit chosen for illustrative purposes comprises part of the well known data accumulating means disclosed in U. S. Patents 1,965,979 and 1,976,617. Since the accumulation of data values forms no part of the present invention, the usual tens carry or transfer means of the individual denominational order are omitted herein.

Referring now to Fig. 5, one order of this unit is shown to include a clutch element |00 which is slidably mounted on the shaft I0| and keyed for rotation therewith. A clutch element is provided for each order of the storing unit, and is provided with a groove in which lits the end of an arm of a suitably pivoted lever |02. This lever is normally held in the position shown by the armature |03 of magnet |04. Upon energization of the magnet its armature .is attracted thereto, thereby releasing the lever |02, which is urged by the leaf spring |05, and causing the clutch element |00 to move into engagement with the cooperating teeth |06 which are integral with gear |01, the latter being loosely mounted on shaft |0|. Gear |01, when thus coupled to shaft |0I rotates gear |08 which meshes therewith, and eiects displacement of an index wheel |09.

It is to be understood that the magnets may be energized at diilerent points in the machine cycle, depending upon the times at which establishment of the control circuits associated therewith are eilected. The energization of these control circuits will be Idescribed in conjunction with the circuit diagram. At the end of each data entry cycle a declutching operation is eiected by suitable control elements included in the unit and are described in greater detail in the said Patent 1,976,617. The rearward extremity of lever |02 is engaged, by a linger I i0 carried on a bar I t at the end of each entry cycle for disengaging the clutch element |00 from teeth |06, and eiiecting relatching of the armature |03. With reference to Fig. 6, it is seen that two entry cycles are included in the complete machine cycle, and the declutching operations referred to occur approximately at the I2 and 26 machine cycle points.

Also driven by gear |0'I is a gear l|2 which is displaced in the same manner as the index wheel. Carried by and insulated from gear I2 is a pair of electrically connected brushes I3, one of which is arranged to engage a single conducting segment IH at the home position of the brushes,

, broken.

the .other ensues an arcuate conducting II (also sesll'ig. '1). Therelationship oi thepartsissuchthatwhentheindexwheel ilis initsneroorhomepositiomoneotthebrushesis in contact with the conducting segment III, and the other brush is in contact with the strip III, thus forming an electrical connection between the two. Upon displacement o! the said index wheel and brushes, this electrical connection is The said electrical connection between segment III and strip III forms part oi! an indicating circuit which will be traced presently.

The driving arrangement for shaft l ll includes a gear lit (Fig. 2) secured to shaft Il, which gear meshes with gear I Il. Integral with the latter is a gear III which meshes with gear III. Secured to gear I II is a small gear I2! which meshes with gear Iii securely mounted on shalt |22, the latter being the drive shalt of the unit, which is effective to drive shaft III through the gearing lil and |24.

Whenever it is desired to reset the individual index wheels and brushes, a suitable crank member I!! is provided on the reset shaft |28 for manually resetting these elements to the home position in a manner well known in the art.

Machine operations Starting circuits.-Referring now to Fig. '1, with the line switches S closed, and upon depression of the start key SK. a circuit is completed from conductor In to the closed contacts III `ot the start key, coil of relay Ri, motor M, to

conductor |31, eilecting energisation oi the said relay and motor. A holding circuit `for the relay RI is established immediately upon closure of its contacts Ria, and can be traced as follows: Con@- ductor Ill, cam contacts CCI and CO4, contacts Ria, coll of relay Ri and motor M to conductor lll. Upon energization oi the said motor, the described driving connections are set into operation to feed the cards, one at a time, from the supply stack to the sensing and printing stations. Upon advancement of the ilrst and following cards from the supply stack the contacts Sla are closed, as indicated in Fig. 6, to cause energization of relay R2, and consequently the closure oi contacts Ra and Rlb.

A second holding circuit for relay RI can now be traced from conductor |30 to the normally closed contacts |33 of the stop key STK, the closed electrical connections through the serially connected brushes H3, conducting segments H4, and conducting strips IIS for the dierent orders of the data storing means (which for the moment are assumed to be in the home positions as shown), contacts Rza, and Ria, coil of relay RI and motor M to conductor |32. This circuit shunts the circuit including cam contacts CCI and CCI, and under the described conditions, would maintain the said relay and motor energized irrespective of the opening of cam contacts CCI and CC! at the respective cycle points indicated in Fig. 6. Also as long as cards are fed through the machine, the cam contacts CCI are shunted by the closed contacts R211. contacts CCI can be termed testing contacts for testing the circuit conditions of the second described holding circuit. It is noted that the CCI contacts open near the end of the machine cycle, when the checking operations, which will be described presently. are completed. As long as the electrical connections of the data storing unit are in the closed or home positions as indicated. the operations oi the machine are not interrupted.

However, ii. during a machine cycle. the said electrical connections were not closed, which would indicate that a non-c condition wouldbeexistlnmthatimthebrushes IIS would not be in the home positions near the end ot this cycle, the operations of the machine would then be interrupted upon the opening oi contacta CC Interpreting and checking circula-Now, as the cards are advanced to the sensing station, the brushes 3| and conducting roller Il are e!- fective to complete circuits to the connected printing control magnets I8 at the differential times, in the iirst haii' period of the machine cycle, the perforations in the record cards are presented to the said brushes and roller. A typi. cal circuit can be traced from conductor III to contacts CBI (see Fig. 6), contacts Rlb conducting roller l2, brush 3|, plug connecting conductor |34. magnet il, and cam contacts CCI to conductor |32, energizing said magnet at the time in the cycle the perforation is sensed.

In this machine. the cards are fed so that the top edge o! the card as shown in Fig. 8, is the leading edge, i. e., the index positions are pre sented to the sensing station in the O, 1, 2, 3, etc., order. It was mentioned hereinabove that the type elements of the typehars are advanced to the printing position in timed relationship with the passage of the index point positions past the sensing brushes. Therefore, upon sensing 'a 2 perforation in one column on the card, the magnet Il is energized to release the pawl 5l to cause the related typebar to stop with the 2 type element opposite the printing position. Upon sensing all the index point positions, the printing hammers are released to print the interpreting data at the head of the related columns on the card as shown in Fig. 8.

.it the same time magnet 5l is energized, during the sensing portion of the machine cycle, a circuit is completed from the said sensing brush to plug connecting conductor ill, contacts Ria and coll of magnet i, energizing this magnet. Again assuming a 2 perforation being sensed, the magnet IM is energized at this time in the cycle and advanced eight steps before the mentioned declutching operation is eilected. In this manner, the representations of the sensed data are entered into related orders of the data storing unit. These representations can be thought of as the tens complement oi the sensed members. Or, if desired, the digit representations usually disposed on the periphery of the index wheels can be arranged in a reverse order, as compared to the usual arrangement oi these representations on the wheels in the accumulator means described in Patent 1,976,617. This way the true number would be indicated. For the present invention it is immaterial whether the true number or tens complement oi the sensed number is indicated on the index wheels. The reason i'or this will be understood presently. Since no automatic resetting means are provided in the present data storing unit the index wheels and Thus, the

brushes I I3 which are displaced from their home positions remain in the displaced positions, and thus retain therein the entered representations of the sensed data.

Approximately at the 16 machinel cycle point (see Fig. 8) the cam contacts CC! are closed to cause relay R3 to be energized. At this time the Ria contacts are opened and the R3b contacts are closed. Continuing with the assumed example, that one of the typebars is stopped at the said sensing means, during the said cycle, for effecting entries of representations therein determined by the sensed designations. means controlled by the recording means, during the said cycle, for controlling the said control means of the storing means and effecting additional entries therein according to the operations of the recording means thereby causing elimination of the first mentioned entered representations, and means under control of the said storing means, for indicating, near the end of said cycle, the failure of the recording means to effect elimination of the said ilrst mentioned entered representations in the storing means.

5. A recording machine controlled by records bearing data designations having recording means, means for sensing the data designations on the records, means controlled by the sensing means for controlling the operations of the recording means in accordance with the sensed designations, storing means having control means controlled by the said sensing means for effecting entries of representations therein determined by the sensed designations, means controlled by the recording means for controlling the said control means of the storing means, according to the operations of the recording means, for causing elimination of the entered representations of the sensed designations in the storing means, and means under control of the said storing means for indicating the failure of the recording means to effect elimination of the said entered representations in the storing means.

6. An interpreting machine controlled by records bearing data designations having means for recording the interpreting data on the related records, means for sensing the data designations on the records, means controlled by the sensing means for controlling the operations of the recording means in accordance with the sensed designations, checking means including means under control of the sensing means for determining the values of the sensed data during the sensing operations and additional means under control of the recording means for determining the values of the recorded data during the recording operations, and means, under control of the checking means, for indicating the conditions of non-correspondence between the vaines of the sensed and recorded data as determined by the said checking means.

7. An interpreting machine controlled by records bearing data designations having means for recording the interpreting data on the related records, means for sensing the data designations i on the records, means for feeding the records, one at a time, and transporting them first to the sensing means and then to the recording means, means controlled by lthe sensing means for controlling the operations of the recording means in accordance with the sensed designations, checking means, successively controlled by the sensing and recording means, having means for controlling the operations thereof during the operations of the sensing and recording means for representing the sensed and recorded data and determining Whether the said sensed and recorded data represented by the checking means correspond, and means effective, under control of the checklng means, for modifying the operations of the said feeding means when the said sensed and recorded data represented by the checking means fall to correspond.

8. An interpreting machine controlled by records bearing data designations having means for recording the interpreting data on the related records, means for sensing the data designations on the records, means controlled by the sensing means for controlling the operations of the recording means in accordance with the sensed designations. checking means, successively controlled by the sensing and recording means, having means for controlling the operations thereof during the operations of the sensing and recording means for representing the sensed and recorded data and determining whether the said sensed and recorded data represented by the checking means correspond, and means, under control of the said checking means, for indicating the conditions of non-correspondence between the said sensed and recorded data represented by the checking means.

9. A data manifesting machine controlled by records bearing data designations having data manifesting means and control means therefor, means for sensing the data designations and controlling the said control means for effecting manifestation of the sensed data, checking means including means under control of the sensing means for effecting the determination of the identity of the sensed data during the sensing operations and storing the representations of the said data and additional means under control of the manifesting means for eecting the determination of the identity of the manifested data during the operations of the manifesting means, the said additional means including means for clearing out the stored data representations whenever the manifesting operations correspond to the sensed designations, and means, under control of the checking means, for indicating the conditions of non-correspondence between the said sensed and manifested data determined by the checking means.

10. A recording machine controlled by records bearing data designations having recording means, means for sensing the data designations on the records, means controlled by the sensing means for controlling the operations of the recording means in accordance with the data sensed, data storing means normally devoid of any data representations, means, successively controlled by the sensing and recording means, for controlling the operations of the storing means for effecting entries of data representations successively therein during the sensing operations .and during the operations of the recording means,

data representations.

JAMES W. BRYCE. 

